Kennebec Valley Community College in Fairfield will soon offer students housing at a local hotel, complete with weekly housekeeping. School officials hope the housing will attract students who otherwise would have to commute a long distance. Morning Sentinel file

FAIRFIELD — Lodging will be available to some Kennebec Valley Community College students beginning in fall 2025, with the goal of making the two-year college an option for students who otherwise couldn’t attend, said CJ McKenna, dean of student affairs and enrollment.

Starting Feb. 1, the college will take applications for student lodging at the Best Western Plus Waterville Grand Hotel, with an emphasis on first-time, full-time students.

For 55 years, KVCC has been a commuter campus, with part-time and full-time students driving an average of 40 to 50 miles to attend classes at the two campuses in Fairfield.

The college boasts unique programs, including a one-year electric line worker certificate program and the only occupational therapy assistant program in Maine. Those programs are a big draw for students across the state, McKenna said.

“Programs like that gave the opportunity for students who want to enroll at KVCC, but then they’re traveling maybe, one way, 80 to 100 miles,” McKenna said. “They’re living in southern Maine, Portland, Scarborough, in those areas, but they’re drawn to us because of those unique programs, and that’s a big commitment for them.”

Talks of a housing option ramped up over the last couple of years. Without a clear idea of how many students would seek housing, the college was hesitant to build a residence hall, but McKenna said that providing lodging at the Waterville hotel was a good first step.

Room and board will cost $11,800 per year, which includes 15 meals per week, a daily shuttle that brings students to and from campus, parking and weekly housekeeping, although students are expected to bring their own linens and towels to emulate a normal residence hall experience, McKenna said.

Kennebec Valley Community College, which announced the housing initiative Oct. 23, is the only college out of seven in the Maine Community College System without a housing option. The addition reflects a larger effort across the system to draw in students without the means to secure housing, said David Daigler, Maine Community College System president.

“There are a whole number of students in our system who are housing insecure — they may not have safe housing, they may not have housing that’s conducive to being able to study and learn and advance their efforts,” Daigler said. “You can create a culture and community of belonging when you have an on-campus population, and that helps with retention, it helps create a sense of community that draws students in and gives them additional support.”

Sausha Hardy, 17, of Freedom, decorates cupcakes in the culinary kitchen at Waldo County Technical Center. Hardy, who plans to graduate from Mount View High School this year, says the option of new student housing has raised her interest in Kennebec Valley Community College’s culinary program. Photo courtesy of Waldo County Technical Center

Sausha Hardy, a 17-year-old student from Freedom, takes culinary classes at Waldo County Technical Center and plans to graduate from Mount View High School this year. Hardy was interested in KVCC’s culinary program, but said she hasn’t been able to consider the school as an option for a couple of reasons.

“A, the commute back and forth, and B, the craziness of my house,” Hardy said. “I want to move out and be independent as soon as I can.”

Bonnie Kein, student services coordinator at Waldo County Technical Center, said that Hardy’s perspective on KVCC flipped when she heard about the lodging option.

“Sausha was saying she really wanted to go to Central Maine Community College, that was her No. 1 choice,” Kein said. “And when I was telling her about KV having lodging, her face just kind of lit up, and she said, ‘Oh, well, then I’d definitely consider that.’ I mean, I saw it in her face when she realized that lodging was an option.“

Kein said she has been waiting for KVCC to offer lodging over her 25 years of meeting with students. Last week, she took some of her students to visit the college.

“The kids came away from there saying they liked the school, they liked the programs,” Kein said. “Some of them commented that a lot of the students seemed older — which they are. And a lot of students who want to live off campus, they want to be surrounded by kids their own age.”

Until last year, KVCC had a median student age of 27 or 28 years old, McKenna said. But with the addition of varsity sports like cross country, track and field, and golf in 2023, and the 2022 announcement of free tuition for recent high school graduates enrolling in community college, that median age has dropped to 24 years old.

McKenna said he expects to see that trend continue with the lodging announcement, which was timed with the fall application cycle.

But no matter where the median age sits, he said that KVCC will continue to serve students on all types of educational paths.

“We know, historically, based on all our successes, we’re still going to be able to serve the nontraditional student very well, like we have for the past 50-plus years,” McKenna said.